Data entry operator at chief secy’s office tests positive

LUCKNOW: Staff at the chief secretary’s office were sent into quarantine after a data entry operator here tested positive for Covid on Tuesday.

The campus was sanitised and the contact tracing of this operator and other employees had begun, according to the CMO office.

On the other hand, a clerk at the Lucknow Municipal Corporation’s office near Utrethia (in zone 8) also tested positive. He was dealing directly with the public as he used to deposit house tax.

Medical experts said the government will have to come out with a revamped strategy to combat Covid-19.

“The number of containment zones in Lucknow has risen to 118, bringing half the city under the coverage of corona. We need to think beyond what we have done so far,” said Dr PK Gupta of the Indian Medical Association.

“A week ago, the number of containment zones in the state capital was around 50. But now the number has shot up and that’s why a revamp in strategy is required,” said Gupta.

“There is a need to set up testing centres in every containment zone while at the same time surveillance of patients must be increased,” said Rama Srivastava, president, IMA (Lucknow).

She added, “There is a need to periodically sanitise all the areas of the city. We must also develop a mechanism to deliver essential goods at people’s doorsteps so that they do not have to venture out frequently.”

Director of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences professor RK Dheeman said, “In containment zones, entry and exit points must be monitored by the police more strictly to contain the spread of the disease.”